Tuesday, March 5
DeKalb, Ill./Convocation Center
8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT
Central Michigan University
17-13,11-6MAC
69
at
63
Northern Illinois
10-20,4-13MAC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
32
37
69
NIU
28
35
63
Team Stats
CMU
NIU
FG%
.407
.397
3FG%
.333
.227
FT%
.560
.600
RB
37
43
TO
8
12
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Chippewas Get Back to Winning Ways, Defeat Northern Illinois, 69-63
3/5/2024 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Central Michigan leads entire game; Derrick Butler scores 24 points, Paul McMillan IV finishes with 12 points; Hunter Harding and Cayden Vasko add 10 for the Chippewas who register 11 or more wins in MAC play for the first time since 2014-15.
DEKALB, Ill.—Derrick Butler led four Central Michigan double figure scorers with 24 points and the Chippewas built an early lead and held off host Northern Illinois the entire night in registering a 69-63 men's basketball victory Tuesday evening at NIU's Convocation Center.
The victory guarantees a winning season for Central Michigan as the Chippewas improve to 17-13 overall and 11-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Following the league's Tuesday night results, Central Michigan is a lock for fourth place, one game behind Ohio (12-5) and two games ahead of Miami (OH) and Bowling Green, who are tied for fifth place with identical 9-8 records. Akron and Toledo are tied atop the standings with identical 13-4 records.
More importantly, the Chippewas snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 15-1 when holding opponents to 70 points or less. Central Michigan has now won 11 or more games in MAC play for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Chippewas have one more regular season game left: at home for Senior Night against Eastern Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena. Brian Taylor will be the lone senior who will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.
Butler tied a career-high with five 3-pointers in accumulating his team-high 24 points. He was not alone as Paul McMillan IV came off the bench to score 12 points, freshman center Hunter Harding scored a career-high 10 points, and Cayden Vasko finished with 10 points. Anthony Pritchard dished out a career-high 10 assists and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Central Michigan led the the entire game. Northern Illinois cut CMU's lead down to four points (52-48) with 11:32 to play on back-to-back 3-pointers by David Coit and Steven Tipton. But Central Michigan responded by scoring nine of the game's next 11 points to quickly push the lead back to 11 points. McMillan hit back-to-back free throws, Brian Taylor added another free throw and after NIU's Coit scored on a layup, McMillan converted four straight free throws, then scored on a layup to push the lead to 61-50.
The Chippewas took the lead in the game's opening minutes as they went on a 10-0 run. Cayden Vasko hit a 3-pointer and Derrick Butler followed with a four-point play (3-pointer and free throw), then Vasko hit another 3-pointer for a 10-2 lead. The Chippewas then extended the lead to 17-4 on another 3-pointer Butler at the 15:17 mark.
Northern Illinois closed the gap to 21-19, but CMU responded with a Brian Taylor jumper and Vasko layup to go back up 25-19.
A Taylor jumper gave CMU its largest lead of the game, 42-32, with 16:45 to play.
Northern Illinois was led by Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who scored a game-high 27 points on 9-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Coit finished with 12 points and four assists, and Will Lovings-Watts added 11 points. The Huskies fell to 10-20 overall and 4-13 in the MAC.
CMU played without center Markus Harding and guard Aidan Rubio.
The victory guarantees a winning season for Central Michigan as the Chippewas improve to 17-13 overall and 11-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Following the league's Tuesday night results, Central Michigan is a lock for fourth place, one game behind Ohio (12-5) and two games ahead of Miami (OH) and Bowling Green, who are tied for fifth place with identical 9-8 records. Akron and Toledo are tied atop the standings with identical 13-4 records.
More importantly, the Chippewas snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 15-1 when holding opponents to 70 points or less. Central Michigan has now won 11 or more games in MAC play for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Chippewas have one more regular season game left: at home for Senior Night against Eastern Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena. Brian Taylor will be the lone senior who will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.
Butler tied a career-high with five 3-pointers in accumulating his team-high 24 points. He was not alone as Paul McMillan IV came off the bench to score 12 points, freshman center Hunter Harding scored a career-high 10 points, and Cayden Vasko finished with 10 points. Anthony Pritchard dished out a career-high 10 assists and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Central Michigan led the the entire game. Northern Illinois cut CMU's lead down to four points (52-48) with 11:32 to play on back-to-back 3-pointers by David Coit and Steven Tipton. But Central Michigan responded by scoring nine of the game's next 11 points to quickly push the lead back to 11 points. McMillan hit back-to-back free throws, Brian Taylor added another free throw and after NIU's Coit scored on a layup, McMillan converted four straight free throws, then scored on a layup to push the lead to 61-50.
The Chippewas took the lead in the game's opening minutes as they went on a 10-0 run. Cayden Vasko hit a 3-pointer and Derrick Butler followed with a four-point play (3-pointer and free throw), then Vasko hit another 3-pointer for a 10-2 lead. The Chippewas then extended the lead to 17-4 on another 3-pointer Butler at the 15:17 mark.
Northern Illinois closed the gap to 21-19, but CMU responded with a Brian Taylor jumper and Vasko layup to go back up 25-19.
A Taylor jumper gave CMU its largest lead of the game, 42-32, with 16:45 to play.
Northern Illinois was led by Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who scored a game-high 27 points on 9-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Coit finished with 12 points and four assists, and Will Lovings-Watts added 11 points. The Huskies fell to 10-20 overall and 4-13 in the MAC.
CMU played without center Markus Harding and guard Aidan Rubio.
—CMU—
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